On the analytical determination of relaxation modulus of viscoelastic materials by Prony's interpolation method

A computer implementation to Prony's curve fitting by exponential functions is presented. The method, although more than one hundred years old, has not been utilized to its fullest capabilities due to the restriction that the time range must be given in equal increments in order to obtain the best curve fit for a given set of data. The procedure used in this paper utilizes the 3-dimensional capabilities of the Interactive Graphics Design System (I.G.D.S.) in order to obtain the equal time increments. The resultant information is then input into a computer program that solves directly for the exponential constants yielding the best curve fit. Once the exponential constants are known, a simple least squares solution can be applied to obtain the final form of the equation

An experimental study of gender differences in distributive justice

This paper shows that women are more likely than men to employ the fair allocation that most benefits their financial payoff. The experimental evidence is gleaned from a dictator game with production, in which subjects first solve a quiz to accumulate earnings and then divide the surplus by choosing one over five different allocations, some of which represent a fairness ideal. The data also suggest that women are more sensitive to the context as their allocation choices depend on whether they have accumulated more or less money than their counterparts. This is not the case for men’s allocation choices (JEL Codes:C91, D30, D64, J16) Keywords: gender differences, distributive justice, fairness ideals, self-serving choices, experimental economics, dictator game with production

Equity and bargaining power in ultimatum games

This paper studies the extent to which offers and demands in ultimatum games are consistent with equity theory when there is a joint endowment to be distributed. Using a within-subject design, we also investigate the importance of the bargaining power by comparing the subjects' behavior in the ultimatum and the no-veto-cost game, which differ in the possible cost of responders rejecting the proposers' offer. Our findings suggest that proposers are willing to reward responders for their contribution to the joint endowment in any of the two games. As for responders, their behavior is consistent with equity theory only in the no-veto-cost game (in which a rejection is costless for them) when the game is first played. When the no-veto-cost game is played after the ultimatum game, we observe that the responders' demands usually exceed their contribution to the endowment. Finally, this paper reports evidence that the ultimatum and the no-veto-cost game differ in terms of efficiency and rejection rates

No evidence of inequality aversion in the investment game

We report experimental evidence on second-movers’ behavior in the investment game (also known as the trust game) when there exists endowment heterogeneity. Using a within-subject analysis, we investigate whether or not second-movers exhibit some taste for inequality aversion by returning a larger (smaller) share of the available funds to first-movers who are initially endowed with a lesser (larger) endowment, respectively. Our data suggest that second-movers do not take into consideration the level of endowments when making their decisions as their behavior is consistent across distribution of endowments; i.e., they return the same proportion of the available funds regardless of the endowments. We indeed find that some second-movers have a tendency to return what they have received from firstmovers. In our data, there is also a substantial proportion of second-movers who are selfish and return nothing

Anomalous Nernst Effect in the Vortex-Liquid Phase of High-Temperature Superconductors by Layer Decoupling

Linear diamagnetism is predicted in the vortex-liquid phase of layered superconductors at temperatures just below the mean-field phase transition on the basis of a high-temperature analysis of the corresponding frustrated XY model. The diamagnetic susceptibility, and the Nernst signal by implication, is found to vanish with temperature as (T_c0 - T)^3 in the vicinity of the meanfield transition at T_c0. Quantitative agreement with recent experimental observations of a diamagnetic signal in the vortex-liquid phase of high-temperature superconductors is obtained.Comment: 8 pages, 3 figure

Separation of n-hexane - ethyl acetate mixture by azeotropic batch distillation with heterogeneous entrainers

In this article, a systematic study of the separation of the n-hexane - ethyl acetate mixture with an entrainer by heterogeneous azeotropic batch distillation is performed. Based upon the thermodynamic behaviour of the ternary mixtures, potential entrainers partially miscible with one or two original azeotropic components are chosen. In all cases, the entrainer adds a heterogeneous binary or ternary azeotrope that is the lowest boiling point in the ternary diagram. Therefore, it leaves the column by the overhead stream which is subcooled to get two liquid phases in the decanter. The phase with the highest amount of the original component is removed as distillate product whereas the entrainer – rich phase is continuously refluxed to the column. Considering methanol, acetonitrile, water and nitromethane as heterogeneous entrainers, screening was performed based on the composition of the unstable heteroazeotropic mixture, the ratio of both liquid phases in the condensed top vapour and the purity of the distillate product determined by the liquid – liquid envelope at the decanter temperature. The process feasibility analysis is validated by using rigorous simulation with the batch process simulator ProSimBatch. Simulation results are then corroborated in a bench experimental column for the selected entrainer, showing several advantages of heterogeneous batch distillation compared to homogeneous systems

Evolutionary relationships among bifidobacteria and their hosts and environments.

BACKGROUND:The assembly of animal microbiomes is influenced by multiple environmental factors and host genetics, although the relative importance of these factors remains unclear. Bifidobacteria (genus Bifidobacterium, phylum Actinobacteria) are common first colonizers of gut microbiomes in humans and inhabit other mammals, social insects, food, and sewages. In humans, the presence of bifidobacteria in the gut has been correlated with health-promoting benefits. Here, we compared the genome sequences of a subset of the over 400 Bifidobacterium strains publicly available to investigate the adaptation of bifidobacteria diversity. We tested 1) whether bifidobacteria show a phylogenetic signal with their isolation sources (hosts and environments) and 2) whether key traits encoded by the bifidobacteria genomes depend on the host or environment from which they were isolated. We analyzed Bifidobacterium genomes available in the PATRIC and NCBI repositories and identified the hosts and/or environment from which they were isolated. A multilocus phylogenetic analysis was conducted to compare the genetic relatedness the strains harbored by different hosts and environments. Furthermore, we examined differences in genomic traits and genes related to amino acid biosynthesis and degradation of carbohydrates. RESULTS:We found that bifidobacteria diversity appears to have evolved with their hosts as strains isolated from the same host were non-randomly associated with their phylogenetic relatedness. Moreover, bifidobacteria isolated from different sources displayed differences in genomic traits such as genome size and accessory gene composition and on particular traits related to amino acid production and degradation of carbohydrates. In contrast, when analyzing diversity within human-derived bifidobacteria, we observed no phylogenetic signal or differences on specific traits (amino acid biosynthesis genes and CAZymes). CONCLUSIONS:Overall, our study shows that bifidobacteria diversity is strongly adapted to specific hosts and environments and that several genomic traits were associated with their isolation sources. However, this signal is not observed in human-derived strains alone. Looking into the genomic signatures of bifidobacteria strains in different environments can give insights into how this bacterial group adapts to their environment and what types of traits are important for these adaptations